Race Report: Phoenix

January 11, 2009

Words and photos by Brendan Lutes

After last week's dramatic turn of events at round one in Anaheim, California, where series favorites Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki's Chad Reed and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians/Yamaha's James Stewart came together in the whoops, crashing and effectively ending a chance either one had at winning the race, the two heavy hitters looked towards round two inside the confines of Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, as a new beginning. Be that as it may, though, JGR/Yamaha's rookie 450 racer—and round one winner—Josh Grant tasted victory and wanted more. When the gate hit the dirt for the start of the night's main event, however, things turned out exactly how Stewart and Reed had hoped—both were up front, battling dramatically until the end with Stewart taking the victory by the skin of his teeth over rival Reed.

In the Lites class, first round winner Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Jake Weimer was looking to continue the momentum he had, however, after taking the holeshot and leading for the first third of the race, a costly mistake in the sand section cost him the race. The bobble allowed Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki's Ryan Dungey to take over first, and with it his first win of the season.

LITES QUALIFYING

The first race of the night saw Troy Lee Designs/Honda's Chris Blose jump out to the early lead followed closely by Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Jake Weimer. After only a few laps, though, Weimer managed to take over first and pull away. Behind the top two, Geico Powersports/Honda's Dan Reardon, MDK/KTM's Ryan Sipes, and Brawndo/Honda's Ryan Clark battled for third. When the checkered flag waved, though, Weimer cruised in for the win followed by Blose, Reardon, Sipes, and Clark.

The second heat of the night had the potential to be action packed as rivals Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki's Ryan Dungey and Boost Mobile/AM/PM/Monster's Jason Lawrence were both on the line. As it turned out, though, the battle never materialized—Lawrence crashed early on and was never a factor in the short qualifier. Dungey on the other hand quickly worked his way into the lead and checked out. Finishing behind the Suzuki rider was MDK/KTM's Justin Brayton with privateer Honda-mounted Eric McCrumman taking third.

The LCQ was relatively uneventful, as DNA Energy/Butler Brothers/Honda's Shaun Skinner led from start to finish. It is worth noting, however, that both Jason Lawrence and Geico Powersports/Honda's Trey Canard failed to qualify. Lawrence suffered from a poor start and could not slice his way through the pack in time, while Canard crashed.

The first heat saw Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto jump out to the early lead with Red Bull Honda's Davi Millsaps in second and Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki's Chad Reed not far behind in third. Within only a few laps, though, Reed was around Millsaps and gaining on Villopoto out front. By the mid way point, Reed was right on Villopoto and within a lap he move around him and quickly opened up a comfortable lead over the young rider. When the checkered flag came out, Reed took the win followed by Windham—who consistently worked his way up, getting around Villopoto in the closing stages of the race—and Villopto. Red Bull Honda's Andrew Short finished fourth with his teammate Millsaps fifth.

When the gate dropped for the second heat, JGR/Yamaha's Josh Grant took the holeshot followed by San Manuel Band of Mission Indians/Yamaha's James Stewart and the rest of the field. On the first lap, though, Stewart moved around Grant and began to open up a sizeable lead in the short eight-lap race. Behind the top two, Jagermiester/KTM's Josh Summey battled with Red Bull Honda's Ivan Tedesco for third. In the end, Stewart took the win while Grant finished second, Summey third, and Tedesco fourth.

In the LCQ, Honda-mounted Matt Boni led from start to finish to take the win and one of the final transfer spots to the main. Honda privateer Daniel Blair took second—the last transfer position.

The start of this race saw Jake Weimer take the holeshot followed closely by Ryan Dungey, rookie P.J. Larsen, Justin Brayton, and Ryan Morais. Within only four laps though, Larsen had dropped back to fifth with Brayton taking over third and Morais fourth. Up front, Weimer continued to lead while Dungey applied the pressure in second. After six laps in the lead, however, Weimer went down in the sand section, allowing Dungey to take over first, dropping Weimer back to fifth and moving Brayton to second while Morais took over third. From there, Dungey began to check out while Weimer worked his way past Chris Blose and into fourth where he stayed until the end. When it was all over, Dungey took his first win of the season followed by Brayton, Morais, and Weimer. The win also moved Dungey into the points lead, which he now holds by a slim two-point margin over Weimer.

When the gate dropped for the final race of the night, the huge crowd inside Chase Field erupted as Josh Grant ripped yet another holeshot aboard his YZ450F. Behind him, though, were James Stewart and Chad Reed. Before the first lap was over, Stewart moved into the lead, and two laps later Reed took over second, dropping Grant back to third. From there, the race was on as Reed charged to catch back up to Stewart. By the midway point, Reed had closed enough on Stewart that he actually was able to attempt to pass him a couple of times. But like James has done on so many other occasions, he didn't crack under the pressure. Reed did his best, but by the end of the 20-lap main event, Stewart crossed the line only a few bike lengths ahead of the speedy Australian. Behind the two rivals, Grant sat comfortably in third and well ahead of fourth-placed Ivan Tedesco. In fact, the running order from third to sixth never changed for the duration of the race—all the excitement was focused around Reed and Stewart. In the end, the finished order was as follows: Stewart, Reed, Grant, Tedesco, and Andrew Short.